1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a mobile terminal for searching for messages, and, more particularly, to a method and a mobile terminal for easily and rapidly searching for messages received from or sent to the same phone number of a currently displayed message.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile terminals can store a plurality of short messages received from other terminals, as well as those input by the users. Generally, sent messages and received messages are stored separately and in time order, from most recent to oldest. Users check sent or received messages by selecting a sent message box or a received message box in their mobile terminals. When the received message box is selected, all received messages are listed on a display screen in arrival time order, with the more recent message listed first.
Conventionally, short messages stored in a mobile terminal are searched for using the following process. When a user selects a short message menu, the mobile terminal displays sub-menus which include a received message management menu and an inputted/sent message management menu. When the user selects a sub-menu according to the type of short messages to be searched for (e.g. sent messages or received messages), the mobile terminal displays items contained under the selected sub-menu. For example, when the received message management menu is selected, the mobile terminal displays items contained under the received message management menu. When the user selects an item for displaying a list of received messages, the mobile terminal then displays a list of all received messages. The user can scroll up or down the display screen using a direction key to search for a desired short message.
It is assumed that a short message searched for and selected by the user is displayed, as illustrated in FIG. 1(a). If the user presses an up key on the mobile terminal, the display screen will be scrolled up to show the upper or beginning part of the same message, as illustrated in FIG. 1(b). If a down key is pressed, the display screen is scrolled down to show the lower or end part of the same message, as illustrated in FIG. 1(c). If a left key is pressed, a previous message will be displayed, as illustrated in FIG. 1(d). If a right key is pressed, a next message will be displayed, as illustrated in FIG. 1(e).
As explained above, the user can search for a previous or next message using the left or right key when a received short message is displayed. However, conventional mobile terminals do not offer a function to directly move to any previous or next message received from or sent to the same phone number of the currently displayed short message. In order to search for and display any other short message from or to the same phone number, the user has to enter the main message menu. When a list of sent or received messages is displayed, the user has to select an item for “arrangement of messages according to phone numbers.” In other words, the user has to press keys many times to search for the messages received from or sent to the same phone number.